Military of Kuwait - History

History

Kuwait was a British protectorate from 1899 until 1961 and although a succession of Emirs of the Al Sabah ruled the country, foreign affairs and defence was a British prerogative. Kuwaiti forces consisted of the Emir's guard plus a small 600-man police force or constabulary under British administration. By 1961, a British military mission had converted the constabulary into a combined a brigade of 2,500 men which also established small air and naval forces in 1961.

With its small size and enormous oil wealth, Kuwait occupies a strategic position at the head of the Persian Gulf. Forty kilometers away is Iran, who had proclaimed its aim of exporting its Iranian Revolution; while the other powerful neighbor, Iraq, had repeatedly challenged Kuwait's legitimacy and subsequently invaded Kuwait twice. Fearful of the radical leadership in Iran, Kuwait aided Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War by permitting the transshipment of goods across its territory and by loans of about six billion US dollars. Kuwait responded to terrorist bombings and other violence inspired by Iran by intensifying its military cooperation with the GCC and by building up its own military. Formally neutral and reluctant to become involved with the great powers except as a last resort, Kuwait turned to the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain for naval protection of its tanker fleet after twenty-one ships were attacked in the gulf since late 1986.

Before the Persian Gulf War, Kuwait maintained a small military force with equipment supplied by the United Kingdom and the United States. Aside from the few units that were able to escape to Saudi Arabia, including a majority of the air force, all of this equipment was either destroyed or taken by the Iraqis. Much of the property that was returned by Iraq after the Persian Gulf War was damaged beyond repair.

Since the war, Kuwait, with the help of the United States and other allies, has made significant efforts to increase the size and modernity of their armed forces. These efforts are succeeding. The government also continues to improve defence arrangements with other Arab states, as well as UN Security Council members.

Kuwait has entered into a ten-year defence cooperation agreement with the United States (in September 1991), the United Kingdom, and France . The agreement with the United States includes port access, military equipment storage, and joint training and exercises. The agreement did not officially provide for the stationing of United States service personnel in Kuwait as the 1,500 US personnel remaining after the Gulf War were scheduled to leave within a few months.

Following Operation Desert Strike in 1996, Kuwait agreed to a United States battalion task force to be permanently stationed in Kuwait. These US Army Intrinsic Action (later called Operation Desert Spring on 1 October 1999) rotations and US Marine Corps EAGER MACE rotations conducted combined training with the Kuwaiti Land Forces and other coalition partners. In addition, US Special Operations Forces conducted Iris Gold rotations to train and assist other Kuwaiti military units